Saturday: Marlins at Cubs, 1:05 p.m.

Javier Vazquez vs. Carlos Zambrano

July 15, 2011

Saturday's game: Marlins at Cubs

1:05 p.m., Wrigley Field, Chicago.

ON THE MOUND

RHP Javier Vazquez (5-8, 5.40) vs. RHP Carlos Zambrano (6-4, 4.34): Making his 11th road start, Vazquez away from Sun Life Stadium is 2-3 with a 4.92 ERA, 17 walks and 33 strikeouts in 56 2/3 innings. Though five of Zambrano's six wins have come on the road, his 3.83 Wrigley Field ERA is .88 runs lower than his road mark.

A sampling of owner Jeffrey Loria's comments during a 25-minute pregame chat with reporters Friday:

On what the club needs moving forward: "We're going to sit down at the end of the year and address that. We need to get a third baseman that's ready to play in the major leagues. We need some more starting pitching and we'll have to see what happens in the outfield. There are players that are capable of doing it. We just have to see if they're doing it. It's unfortunate that Chris [Coghlan] got hurt. He'll get himself back."

"We have a third baseman [Matt Dominguez], highly touted and a [first round] draft pick, but we need to find out whether he's ready. We'll see at the end of the year what the situation there is. Everybody needs pitching, more and more pitching."

On the club's 2012 manager: "We'll see where we are at the end of the year. There will be a number of candidates, but right now Jack [McKeon] is the manager and we'll see where it goes at the end of the year. There is a chance [McKeon will return], of course. I'm not ruling anything out, but it will have to be somebody with experience."

On the July 31 trade deadline: "I'm looking to improve the team, always. Larry [Beinfest] always says the same thing. There's no call to be made here. We're watching them play. We have another two weeks before [the deadline]. We need to fill in a couple of spots going forward next year. I want us to be better, always better. We're very good, but I want us to be better."

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